Share memories of growing up with the great music of the 50s, 60s and 70s. My background includes radio and television personality as well as V.P. A&R for A&M Records, where I signed Bryan Adams. In 1997, I began Treasure Island Oldies, the Home of Lost Treasures. I play the biggies, but extensively feature hard to find rare oldies. Listen live Sundays 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific and also the show archives at www.TreasureIslandOldies.com
Let the memories flow!

Monday, November 29, 2010

A big shout out to two friends and listeners of the show. My good friend Matt Meaney in Langley, British Columbia is still recovering from a car accident just over a week ago. Sadly, it seems the car is a complete write-off. Fortunately Matt isn't! Hope you feel better soon, Matt. And a big hello to Roy Geldart in Campbell River, British Columbia, who fell during the snow storm last week and hurt his wrist. Roy, take a lesson from Little Richard, no more "Slippin & Slidin'". Take care Roy.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Lennart Persson in Gothenberg, Sweden. All the best to you Lennert If you have a birthday coming up, I'd sure like to help celebrate your special day with you and the Treasure Island Oldies Listeners. Send the info on your upcoming birthday to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'll wish you Happy Birthday on the show and play our official birthday song for you, Birthday, by The Beatles.

A big thank you to our Webmaster, Eddy Fisher, for all the great Christmas lights and decorations on the Main page, the Home page and on the Listen page of our website. I've already had comments from listeners on how much they like the Christmas Countdown Clock and Santa's Reindeer in the stables on the Listen page. I also really like the gold framed picture beside the clock, of Santa in his sleigh with all the snow falling. Looks so nice. And we'll be playing lots more Christmas music on the show this week, leading up to our 14th Annual Christmas Special on Sunday, December 19th. I sincerely hope you can join me for what is my favourite show of the year.

If there are any Christmas songs you'd like to hear, please let me know. Click the Requests button on any page of the website or you can call the Treasure Island Oldies 24/7 Listener Line at 206-203-4678 and record your message. It would also be great if you would call the Listener Line to record your own Christmas Holiday Greeting to the listeners all around the world. I'll play back your message on the show. I sure look forward to hearing from you.

To get you into the Christmas spirit, the Treasure Island Oldies Blog is playing the animated version of the classic White Christmas by The Drifters. It's our Song of the Week. Enjoy!

Voice Your Choice is also getting you well into the Christmas Season feeling with two great Christmas songs from Andy Williams: Happy Holiday and It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. Which song would you like to hear? Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page. We'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

If you have a Smartphone, be sure to check out a cool app, WunderRadio. There is a version for an Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or the new Windows Phone. Once installed, you'll be able to listen to Treasure Island Oldies whenever and wherever you are. Check it out. Happy Listening! By the way, I'd really like to hear from you once you've listened to the show using WunderRadio. Send your comments to michael@treasureislandoldies.com.

You can download the weekly Rock & Roll News as a Podcast? It's easy; go to iTunes and search for Treasure Island Oldies Rock & Roll News. There are now over 12,000 downloads of the Podcast every month! You can also listen to the Top 5 Countdown at any time, when you only have time to listen to a few songs. Go to the Listen page and click Top 5 Countdown.

Let the world know you're a proud listener of Treasure Island Oldies. Send in your name, photo, city and province or state for the Listener Gallery to michael@treasureislandoldies.com and our Webmaster, Eddy Fisher, will post it on the Listener Gallery page along with the many already received. You can also let all your friends know you enjoy the show with your personal Treasure Island Oldies Email Signature. A selection of complimentary signatures is available for download. Click Goodies on the upper menu on any page on the website. Thanks to the many folks that have downloaded their own copy of the Email Signature. That's great!

I hope you have a great week and see you next Sunday for the live show.

Andy Williams was born Howard Andrew Williams on December 3, 1928 in Wall Lake, Iowa. He had many hits in the 1950s when he was signed to Cadence Records. His string of hits continued after he switched record labels to Columbia Records. In the middle of it all, he became a very popular TV star with his own variety show from 1962 to 1967.

As we are entering the Christmas Season, this week on Voice Your Choice we feature the great Andy Williams with two of his classic Christmas songs for your votes. Which song would you like to hear?: Happy Holidays or It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page. We'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

To get you revved up for the Christmas Season, I thought it would be fun to enjoy a Classic R&B recording by a Classic R&B group sining a Classic Christmas song. I am pleased to present the animated version of The Drifters excellent version of White Christmas.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanks to the listeners who submitted their answers to the final total value of the songs played on last week's Music By Numbers Special. Some of you may need new batteries in your calculators; at least that's the impression I got from some of the answers. LOL The correct total of all songs played is 1,056,249.6. The "point six" came about as a result of playing 98.6 by Keith. Congratulations to Fay Greenwood on having the correct answer. And my thanks to the listeners who sent in emails commenting on how much fun it was to hear all those numbers songs. I too had lots of fun, and we'll do it again next year. Incidentally for a complete list of all of the Specials for 2011, click here for the Schedules page.

Our very best wishes go out to Matt Meaney, my good friend and producer of the Hits From Across The Pond weekly feature on the show. Matt was involved in a car accident on Sunday, which was not his fault. While "shaken and stirred" by the multiple airbags in the car, he is doing ok and was seemingly not hurt. The car is not doing so well; however, the responsibility of the cost of either the repair or the replacement will be placed with the driver who went through a red light. We are all so relieved you are ok Matt. Good thing you have the "lovely and talented" Fay Greenwood by your side to take good care of you. Hope you feel back to your normal self very soon.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is playing the great Sam & Dave with I Thank You, a song perfectly fitting for American Thanksgiving this week. It's our Song of the Week. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

If you have a birthday coming up, I'd sure like to help celebrate your special day with you and the Treasure Island Oldies Listeners. Send the info on your upcoming birthday to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'll wish you Happy Birthday on the show and play our official birthday song for you, Birthday, by The Beatles.

Next week on Voice Your Choice we feature The Miracles and two of their early hits. Smokey Robinson was the lead singer but had not been given top billing at that point. Come to the Voice Your Choice page and make your selection for the song you'd like to hear, either Mickey's Monkey or You Really Got A Hold On Me. We'll play the winning song in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

As I mentioned on the show, the Christmas Holiday songs will begin shortly, during the month of December. If there is a special Christmas song you'd like to hear, please let me know. Either click the Requests button on any page of the website or call the Treasure Island Oldies Listener Line at 206-203-4678. I'll play back your phone request message along with the song you'd like to hear.

If you have a smartphone, whether it is an Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or the new Windows Phone, you can listen to Treasure Island Oldies whenever and wherever you are on the go. All you need is an app and a good one is calledWunderRadio. Download the app and you'll then be able to enjoy our 24/7 Continuous Stream. Check it out. Happy Listening! By the way, I'd really like to hear from you once you've listened to the show using WunderRadio. Send your comments to michael@treasureislandoldies.com.

You can download the weekly Rock & Roll News as a Podcast? It's easy; go to iTunes and search for Treasure Island Oldies Rock & Roll News. There are now over 12,000 downloads of the Podcast every month! You can also listen to the Top 5 Countdown at any time, when you only have time to listen to a few songs. Go to the Listen page and click Top 5 Countdown.

Let the world know you're a proud listener of Treasure Island Oldies. Send in your name, photo, city and province or state for the Listener Gallery to michael@treasureislandoldies.com and our webmaster, Eddy Fisher, will post it on the Listener Gallery page along with the many already received. You can also let all your friends know you enjoy the show with your personal Treasure Island Oldies Email Signature. A selection of complimentary signatures is available for download. Click Goodies on the upper menu on any page on the website. Thanks to the many folks that have downloaded their own copy of the Email Signature. That's great!

I hope you have a great week and see you next Sunday for the live show.

The Miracles formed in Detroit, Michigan and consisted of Smokey Robinson, Claudette Rogers (who was married to Smokey from 1958 to 1986 and retired from the group in 1964), Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, and Warren Moore. Sadly, Ronnie died of leukemia on August 26, 1995 at the young age of 56.

Smokey wrote many of the group's hit songs and also for other Motown Artists. In fact, he became Vice-President of Artist & Repertoire for Berry Gordy's Motown Records.

Between 1959 and 1975, they appeared on the Billboard Top 100 charts a total of 46 times, and garnered 7 Top Ten hits. This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features The Miracles with two of their great hit songs for your votes: Mickey's Monkey and You Really Got A Hold On Me.

To help celebrate American Thanksgiving this week, it is my pleasure to play a "thank you" song here at the Treasure Island Oldies Blog. Here are two fantastic soul singers from the great Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee.

Sam & Dave, in a live concert performance, sing I Thank You. It's our Song of the Week.

Monday, November 15, 2010

My brain hurts! Having to add up the value of every song played on the Music By Numbers Special was exhausting! LOL What good fun it was to play songs that had numbers in the song titles and to challenge you to keep track of the running total of each song played. Judging by the comments made by the regular Nuts in the Hut in the Chat Room and from your email, everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time playing mathematician. I'll announce the Grand Total on next week's show and advise of any listeners who got the correct total. It's not too late to send in your email with the total you have come up with (along with a little help from your calculator). You have until this coming Saturday to enjoy the archive and then come up with the total. Send your answer to michael@treasureislandoldies.com. Good luck!

I'd like to wish Happy Birthday to Connie Canode in Madison, Wisconsin and Chris Witmer in West Liberty, Iowa. It was a pleasure to help celebrate your birthdays with you. And I'd like to wish you a very Happy Birthday on the show as well. Send the info on your upcoming birthday to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com. I'll also play our official birthday song for you, Birthday, by The Beatles.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is keeping you in the Music By Numbers Special mood with a fantastic live performance by the Wicked Wilson Pickett of his smash hit Land of 1000 Dances. It's our Song of the Week. Enjoy!

Next week on Voice Your Choice we spotlight the Motor Town rockers Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels with two of their hits for your votes: Sock It To Me Baby and C.C. Rider - Jenny Take A Ride. Vote for the song you'd like me to play. Make your selection at the Voice Your Choice page. We'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

As I mentioned to you, I've been trying an app on the iPhone that enables you to listen to Treasure Island Oldies. The app is called WunderRadio. The really cool thing is there is an app for every phone format: iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and Windows. You'll be able to enjoy our 24/7 Continuous Stream. Check it out. Happy Listening! By the way, I'd really like to hear from you once you've listened to the show using WunderRadio. Send your comments to michael@treasureislandoldies.com

You candownload the weekly Rock & Roll News as a Podcast? It's easy; go to iTunes and search for Treasure Island Oldies Rock & Roll News. There are now over 12,000 downloads of the Podcast every month! You can also listen to the Top 5 Countdown at any time, when you only have time to listen to a few songs. Go to the Listen page and click Top 5 Countdown.

Let the world know you're a proud listener of Treasure Island Oldies. Send in your name, photo, city and province or state for the Listener Gallery to michael@treasureislandoldies.com and our webmaster, Eddy Fisher, will post it on the Listener Gallery page along with the many already received. You can also let all your friends know you enjoy the show with your personal Treasure Island Oldies Email Signature. A selection of complimentary signatures is available for download. Click Goodies on the upper menu on any page on the website. Thanks to the many folks that have downloaded their own copy of the Email Signature. That's great!

I hope you have a great week and see you next Sunday for the live show.

Mitch Ryder, the Detroit-bred rocker, was born William Levise on February 26, 1945. His band, the Detroit Wheels were: Jim McCarty and Joe Cubert on guitars, Earl Elliott on bass, with John Bandanjek playing drums.

A good deal of their charted records were cover tunes of songs originally performed by Little Richard, The Righteous Brothers, Shorty Long, and even The Marvelettes.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice presents Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels with two of their charted hits for your votes: Sock It To Me-Baby! and Jenny Take A Ride (C.C. Rider - Jenny, Jenny). Make your selection at the Voice Your Choice page. The winning song will be played in Hour 3 of next week's show.

To keep you in the feel of this week's Music By Numbers Special on the show, here is the Wicked Wilson Pickett performing live on the David Letterman show. Here is the smash Land of 1000 Dances, our Song of the Week.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

In honour of and out of respect for everyone who has sacrificed their lives for our freedom, on November 11th I urge you to wear a poppy and post one on your website. It is the least we can do to recognize all that they have done for us.

Michael

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

A friend of mine, Shawn Hlookoff wrote a song called Soldier, a tribute to soldiers in the past, present and the future. And no matter what one's views of war are, one should always respect the soldiers, the men and women, who risk their lives on behalf of their country.

In recognition of Remembrance Day in Canada, November 11th, and Veterans Day coming up in the United States, I am pleased to present to you, Shawn Hlookoff and Soldier.

Monday, November 08, 2010

I know you enjoy listening to all the great songs every week on the show, but some weeks just seem to stand out. Apparently this week's show is such an example, if judging by the comments from all the Nuts in the Hut, the Chat Room Regulars. There were countless comments made about so many of the songs played throughout the four hours. Thanks so much. Preparing the weekly show is something I enjoy very much and I put a lot of time into selecting some all time greats and mix them with some fantastic Lost Treasures. Add to that mix with the regular weekly features, and you get four hours of music that I am always so glad to share with you.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Sunny in Berkeley, Illinois, and Dana near Randolph, New Jersey. It was fun to be able to celebrate your birthdays with the rest of the listeners. If you have a birthday coming up, be sure to let me know. Send the details to birthdays@treasureislandoldies.com and I'll wish you all the best on the show and also play our official birthday song for you, Birthday by The Beatles.

Get out your calculators! You'll need them for next week's Music By Numbers Special. This will be only the second time since the show began back in 1997 that we present this show theme. Almost every song you'll hear will have a number in the song title. You have to keep adding the value of song after song and see what total you end up with by the end of the show. I'd love to get your answers. Send the total of all songs played to michael@treasureislandoldies.com I'll announce the name of the listener with the correct total. In case of more than one correct answer, I'll give you the names of all correct entries. This is going to be lots of fun and just maybe a million laughs!

I am pleased to advise you that I think we have finally licked all the Real Media sound issues we've been experiencing. Thanks for your patience and I am so glad the sound is crystal clear once again.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is playing a classic '60s soul smash, The In Crowd by Dobie Gray. It's a live performance I know you'll enjoy and it's our Song of the Week.

Voice Your Choice spotlights Bobby Bare with two of his hit songs for your votes: 500 Miles Away From Home and Four Strong Winds. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page. The winning song will be played in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

As I mentioned to you, I've been trying an app for the iPhone that enables you to listen to Treasure Island Oldies. The app is called WunderRadio and it's available at the iTunes Store. You'll be able to enjoy our 24/7 Continuous Stream. Check it out. Happy Listening!

You candownload the weekly Rock & Roll News as a Podcast? It's easy; go to iTunes and search for Treasure Island Oldies Rock & Roll News. There are now over 12,000 downloads of the Podcast every month! You can also listen to the Top 5 Countdown at any time, when you only have time to listen to a few songs. Go to the Listen page and click Top 5 Countdown.

Let the world know you're a proud listener of Treasure Island Oldies. Send in your name, photo, city and province or state for the Listener Gallery to michael@treasureislandoldies.com and our webmaster, Eddy Fisher, will post it on the Listener Gallery page along with the many already received. You can also let all your friends know you enjoy the show with your personal Treasure Island Oldies Email Signature. A selection of complimentary signatures is available for download. Click Goodies on the upper menu on any page on the website.

I hope you have a great week and see you next Sunday for the live show.

Bobby Bare was born April 7, 1935 in Ironton, Ohio. He had an interesting start to his career, when in 1958 this singer/songwriter/guitarist was drafted into the US Army. Before leaving, he recorded a demo and left a tape of The All American Boy with Fraternity Records. To his great surprise, Fraternity released the record and credited Bill Parsons as the artist, in error. For many years, Bobby Bare would have to tell people it was really him singing on that Number 2 song in 1958.

His career really took off in the country music market, and he had 70 country hits on the charts. Meanwhile on the Top 100 charts, he scored 8 singles, with two Top Twenty hits. And it is those two two songs we feature this week on Voice Your Choice: 500 Miles Away From Home and Four Strong Winds.

Make you selection for the song you'd like to hear at the Voice Your Choice page. We'll play the winner in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

Dobie Gray had two visits with fame. In the mid '60s he scored with the smash hit song The In Crowd, and later again in the '70s with Drift Away. This week the Treasure Island Oldies Blog is showcasing the earlier side of his career. Here is Dobie Gray with The In Crowd, our Song of the Week.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

What a frightfully good time we had when the Crypt was unlocked for our 14th Annual Halloween Spooktacular. The Nuts in the Hut, the Chat Room regulars, were in full costume and at times, it was a challenge to figure out who was who. For example, Imma-Mummy, the Great Pumpkin, Bride of Matthewstein, Scared Shirtless, Uncle Fester, Cousin It and many others were cleverly disguised in their Halloween "outfits". What a fun time we had. It was also great to "dig up" some Lost Treasures, including Claudine Clark's Walkin' Through A Cemetery, The Ghost Of Billy MaLoo by Dorsey Burnette, Black And Hairy by Sreaming Lord Sutch, The Newports with I'm In The Ground For Good, and many others, along with the traditional Halloween tunes like The Monster Mash, Thriller, Bad Moon Rising, Blue Moon and so many more. Thanks very much for your great comments.

Our next special will be in two week's time. Be sure to join us Sunday, November 14th for what will surely prove to challenge you math skills when we present the Music By Numbers Special. Every song will have a number in the song title and like the TV show Mission: Impossible, your mission will be to keep track of the running total of the songs as they are played. An few examples of songs with numbers in the title are 500 Miles Away From Home by Bobby Bare, Seventeen by Boyd Bennett, Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Byrds' Eight Miles High, etc. You get the picture. I'm really looking forward to seeing who can come up with the correct total of all songs played on the show. More details as we get closer to the date.

I had a call from a listener who complained about the live stream cutting out and they wanted me to do something about it. Please understand that all I can do is ensure that the audio of the show is streaming from the studio and going out live in Windows Media and Real Media formats. Once the signal is "out" on the Internet, there are many, many factors that could cause an interruption of the signal, none of which are under my control or the studio or the network. I can only ask for your patience and understanding. I remember years ago when one would be fortunate to hear an entire song without interruption of the sound. Fortunately today with high speed broadband, that happens far less frequently.

The Treasure Island Oldies Blog is helping to keep you in the Halloween mood by playing Superstition by Stevie Wonder. This is a great clip of the recording session in the studio and our Song of the Week. Enjoy!

Our Moment In Time feature returns this week with two episodes, one of which will be the Halloween related piece that I was unable to bring to you during our Halloween Spooktacular. Be sure to listen for this popular long running feature in the third hour, right after Rick's Rare Rock & Roll Relic.

Voice Your Choice also returns this week with Elton John and two of his signature hits for you votes: Your Song and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Cast your vote for the song you'd like to hear at the Voice Your Choice page. The winning song will be played in the 3rd hour of next week's show.

I'm still checking outan app for the iPhone that will enable you to listen to the Treasure Island Oldies 24/7 Continuous Feed on your iPhone! I'll let you know my final thoughts soon. If I really like it, I'll let you know the name of and price for the app. So far it sounds and works great.

You can download the weekly Rock & Roll News as a Podcast? It's easy; go to iTunes and search for Treasure Island Oldies Rock & Roll News. There are now over 12,000 downloads of the Podcast every month! You can also listen to the Top 5 Countdown at any time, when you only have time to listen to a few songs. Go to the Listen page and click Top 5 Countdown.

Let the world know you're a proud listener of Treasure Island Oldies. Send in your name, photo, city and province or state for the Listener Gallery to michael@treasureislandoldies.com and our webmaster, Eddy Fisher, will post it on the Listener Gallery page along with the many already received. You can also let all your friends know you enjoy the show with your personal Treasure Island Oldies Email Signature. A selection of complimentary signatures is available for download at the Goodies page on the website.

I hope you have a great week and see you next Sunday for the live show.

Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, England and has become one of the most popular singers, songwriters, musicians, performers and entertainers of the 20th Century. Before having a solo career, he was a member of the British group Bluesology, which included Elton Dean and Long John Baldry. It was from those two fellows that he took the name Elton John. In 1967, he teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin and then embarked on the career of Elton John.

Between 1970 and 2000 he racked up an impressive 70 appearances on the Billboard charts. Now that is quite a feat! Sir Elton John has also had twenty-eight Number One records, thirteen Gold Records and six Platinum Records; and these are just the singles!

We present two of his signature hit songs for Voice Your Choice this week on Treasure Island Oldies. Now you have to vote for the song you'd prefer to hear me play as Voice Your Choice presents Elton John and Your Song and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Click the Voice Your Choice page and cast your vote. We'll play the winning song in the third hour of next week's show.

Loaded Web

About Me

I love good music - period, but I have a passion for the music of
the '50, '60s and '70s. I started Treasure Island Oldies for two
reasons: I had to get back on the air; I missed radio so much. I also
got tired of hearing "good times and 'eight' oldies", and knew with all
my previous radio programming experience, I could offer a weekly oldies
show that would feature familiar songs but also a lot of "instant
memories", songs you have not heard since they were first played on the
radio for a short time, then disappeared, seemingly forever. I knew
having someone hear a song they have not heard for literally 30 or 40
years, would touch a nerve. Perhaps the memory of a special occasion,
or maybe just another day, that particular song really caught their ear
back then. And every time I play one of those what I call Lost
Treasures, I get immediate individual feedback from the chat room,
email and my blogs. So I play a lot of music heard hardly anywhere
else. Join me live Sundays 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific, and also, the weekly
show archives at www.TreasureIslandOldies.com Let the memories flow!